Finding My Love
by swimmerKim
Summary: Prompt from Tumblr: Anna is kidnapped and Skylar has to find her. With aspects of other friends like Anna and Brittany." Just a short little Castin story.
1. Chapter 1

Skylar didn't think anything of it when he got a call from an unlisted member, figuring one of his friends had gotten a new number because the old one had been leaked. Skylar answered the call. "Hello?" He said in his usual chipper tone into the phone.

"Is this Skylar Lipstein?" An authoritative voice asked.

"Yes," he said, slightly taken aback.

"This is Detective Racine of the LAPD. I'm going to need you to come down for questioning as soon as possible."

Skylar's mind started racing, trying to think of anything he could have done that would require him being questioned by the police. "Um yeah, just let me get my lawyer on the phone and I'll be down as soon as possible," he said as calmly as he could while continuing to internally freak out.

"That won't be necessary, Mr. Lipstein, you aren't a suspect, we just need you to answer some questions about potential suspects and establish some aspects about the victim's daily routine," Detective Racine reassured. "But if you want, you are allowed to have your lawyer present. This is a very time sensitive matter so it is preferred that you come down as soon as possible."

"What?" Skylar asked dumbly, he was sure he must be dreaming, or have him confused with someone else.

"Anna Ragsdale Camp was reported missing this morning after she missed a flight home to see her parents in South Carolina yesterday."

Skylar's eyes went wide. He had dropped Anna off at the airport. That was obviously where she had been kidnapped. He started mentally kicking himself for not going in with her to make sure she got through security, despite her protests that she would be fine. He had thought it was weird that she didn't call or text to say that she had arrived safely, but just chalked it up to her wanting to spend some uninterrupted time with her parents or been tired from the flight. He felt so stupid for not figuring it out sooner. "I'll be right down," he said into the phone before rushing to his car and heading to the station.


	2. Chapter 2

I know they're engaged now, but I wrote this before that happened. Please just go with it.

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Skylar had to wait almost an hour after arriving at the station to speak to Detective Racine, frustrating him and questioning how serious they were about finding Anna.

When Detective Racine did see him, he took Skylar into his office and set up a tape recorder. "Detective John Dempsy Racine questioning Skylar Astin Lipstein about the disappearance of Anna Ragsdale Camp," the tall, stone faced man said into the tape recorder before turning his attention back to Skylar. "Mr. Lipstein-"

"Skylar, please," the younger man interrupted.

"Skylar, what was your relationship to Miss Camp?"

"I'm her boyfriend," Skylar said with pride.

"And how long have you known Miss Camp?"

"We met during the summer of 2011 while we were making a movie together."

Detective Racine nodded as he wrote everything down, mumbling something that Skylar couldn't quite hear. "In the four and a half years you two have known each other, did she ever mention having any enemies at any time in her life?"

"She was previously married and the divorce was pretty rocky. I'm not sure if that's anything."

"Yes, we are aware of Miss Camp's marriage to Mr. Michael Mosley. He has an alibi, he's been in Australia for the last two weeks working on a film."

"Then no, she has no enemies that I'm aware of."

Detective Racine once again nodded as he jotted some things down on his notepad. "When was the last time you heard from Miss Camp?"

"I was the one who dropped her off at the airport."

This got Detective Racine's attention. "And where did you drop her off?"

"Just curbside by the Delta counter," Skylar answered hesitantly, suddenly feeling accused of doing something wrong.

"Do you recall seeing any suspicious looking people or actively outside of the counter?" Detective Racine asked, clearly believing that they were onto something.

"Not that I remember," Skylar answered honestly.

"Skylar, this is important. I know you probably didn't think to pay much attention yesterday, but absolutely anything you can remember will be an immense help."

The younger man did his best to concentrate on the day before. It had all seemed so normal at the time. He dropped Anna off, helped her get her bags out of the trunk, and she went to check in at the curbside counter. That was when it hit Skylar. "There was a guy in a long trench coat and sunglasses hanging around outside," he rushed out.

Detective Racine feverishly wrote something down before picking up his office phone to call the receptionist, telling her to get a hold of a few other detectives while he went to the airport to obtain the necessary security footage. "Thank you for your help, Skylar. You are free to go. I'll be in touch if I have any more questions or when we find Miss Camp. Until then, try to go about your business as normal and do not tell anyone that Miss Camp is missing or anything you know about the investigation. It never helps to have information about a case circulating, especially a public figure." Detective Racine warned.

Skylar nodded his understanding and was about to walk out of the office when he turned around to say, "Bring my girlfriend home safe." His words help a hint of warning.

"We'll do our best," Detective Racine said in a calculated tone.

The younger man nodded in satisfaction, knowing that was as close to a promise as he was going to get before turning to leave the station.


	3. Chapter 3

The next day Skylar didn't have to go to set or an audition so he immediately started with his day off routine. After rolling out of bed at 10, he checked his e-mails to see if his manager had sent him anything important before making himself an omelet for breakfast before heading to the gym.

When he opened the door, Skylar found an envelope taped to his door with his name typed on it with block letters. The brunette frowned as he took the envelope off the door and pulled a letter out with similar block letters. "You had to go to the police, didn't you? Don't do that again or I'll have to take my anger out on your girlfriend. Do as I say and you'll get her back safe and sound, disobey and things won't go smoothly. Don't screw this up."

Skylar's first instinct was to call the police to turn the letter in as a piece of evidence and have it dusted for finger prints in hopes that whoever sent it had made a mistake and not worn gloves.

Then he remembered what the note had said. There was no way for Skylar to know if the note was from whoever had kidnapped Anna or if it was just someone messing with him, but doing anything that could potentially hurt Anna wasn't a risk he was willing to take. Unsure of what to do, Skylar stuffed the note in his bag and continued his journey to the gym to try to come up with a plan.

All while he was on the treadmill, Skylar's mind kept wandering back to the note and what he was going to d. Eventually, it became clear that this was too big for him to handle on his own. Grabbing his phone from the holder on the machine, Skylar typed a quick message before sending it to the two people he trusted most in this situation.

When he got home, Skylar was relieved to see Brittany and Kendrick's cars outside of his apartment. The blonde and brunette got out of their cars when they saw Skylar pull into the driveway. "Hey, thanks so much for meeting me," he said gratefully.

"It was no trouble, really," Brittany said in her usual, chipper tone.

"Yeah, what's going on? Your text said that it was urgent." Kendrick asked, concern clear in her voice.

"Let's get inside and I'll explain," Skylar said, looking around to see if he could see whoever had obviously been spying on him.

When they were all inside, Skylar offered his guests something to drink, which they both declined. "So I'm not sure if you've heard, they're trying to keep it quiet, but Anna was kidnapped at the airport."

He paused to allow what he had said to sink in with the blonde and brunette. Both girls' faces immediately changed to one of unadulterated shock.

"How did this happen?" Kendrick asked furiously. "They have TSA agents everywhere that can't stop someone from kidnapping a woman in broad daylight? This is unacceptable! Our tax dollars, _HER_ tax dollars are paying for them to be on every corner of LAX and they let her down like that!"

"Hey, I'm as angry as you are and I've already been in contact with the police and told them everything I know. I can only hope it's enough to help find her." Skylar said with pain evident in his voice.

"If the police are on the case, why are we here?" Brittany asked in confusion.

"I need your advice on something. I got this note on my door this morning and I just don't know what to do about it," Skylar said nervously as he grabbed the note out of his bag and handed it to the blonde and brunette to read. "So what do you guys think?" he asked when both sets of blue eyes were looking up at him.

"I think we're all in agreement that Anna's safety is our number one priority, right?" Brittany asked, receiving nods from both Kendrick and Skylar. "I think we have to leave it for right now. Right now, going to the police is a no-win situation. If you go and this person is serious, they could get angry and hurt Anna. If this person is just messing with you, it could hurt the real investigation. I say you wait a week and see if you're contacted again."

Skylar paused for a moment as he considered what the blonde had said to him. On the surface, it made sense, but he couldn't help but worry about what would happen if this person was lying. Seeing no alternative, he nodded his head in agreement with Brittany's plan.

Before he could, Kendrick was spouting off Skylar's concerns. "What if we follow this nut job's orders to the letter and Anna still ends up hurt?"

"Based on this note, I don't think that's going to happen. It seems like this person isn't interested in hurting her and is willing to give her back if we cooperate. And if we don't hear anything in a week, we'll go to the police and report this person for stalking and harassment."

Skylar thought it over for a moment before deciding that the blonde was right. "Brittany, I think you're right. We should wait and see." Before Kendrick could object, he continued. "If this person doesn't have Anna, they might have an idea of who does. So far, the only people I know who are even aware that Anna is missing besides the police are her parents, sister, myself, you guys, and possibly Michael." The blonde and brunette shot him a confused look. "He was their primary suspect, so I'm guessing he got a little suspicious when he was being questioned about the last time he saw her."

"I still don't trust that guy," Kendrick said. "I only met him a couple of times, but he always gave me a bad vibe."

"Me too." Brittany said as she nodded in agreement.

"I'm in agreement with you guys, but the police have dropped him as a suspect for now and looking into tracking down the trench coat guy. I think we just have to wait and see what comes of that just lay low until then. Can we all agree to that?"

Brittany immediately nodded in agreement. Kendrick was giving a stony look. "I know you're not enthused about laying low, but we've already agreed that it's our best option. Can you give us your word that you won't do anything until then?" Skylar asked.

The brunette continued to stare him down for a few more seconds before agreeing. "Fine, but you're going first thing in the morning or I do it for you."

"Ok, I promise. Right when I wake up next Tuesday, I'll go to the police department before I do anything else." Kendrick nodded in satisfaction. "Good. Thank you both for coming over, it was a lot of help." Skylar said gratefully as he walked the girls to the door and gave them each a hug before they left.

"It was no trouble, we want to see Anna get home safe and sound too. Thank you for trusting us enough to fill us in on what's going on," Brittany said as Skylar hugged her.

"Yeah, keep us posted on any developments," Kendrick said before leaving.

"Of course. As soon as I hear anything, I'll text you guys."

"And Skylar?" Kendrick asked before getting in her car, "Stay safe."

"Skylar did his best to hide the surprise on his face at the request before promising he would and watching Kendrick drive off into the distance.


	4. Chapter 4

The next day when he woke up, the first thing Skylar did was go to the door to check for a message. To his instant fear, there was one. This time, instead of a note, there was a picture of Anna tied to a chair with a cloth in her mouth to gag her with that day's newspaper on her lap. On the back was a note in print that looked almost more like a computer than a typewriter that said, "Look who can follow directions. Keep up the good work and you'll keep her pretty face in tact. Screw up and I'll have to take my anger out on her with a knife. P.S. Tell Anna and Brittany that they look great and I can't wait to see them. –X"

Skylar immediately pulled his phone out and started a group message with Brittany and Kendrick. "Got a photo this morning from out new friend, X. Apparently it's on us to make sure Anna gets back safe and sound."

Almost immediately after hitting send, a call came in from Kendrick. "Details. Every last one," she demanded.

"Well, there was an envelope on my door like yesterday. Inside was a picture of Anna tied to a chair with a cloth being used as a gag and today's newspaper. On the back there was a note saying to continue following their directions and Anna won't be harmed and we'll get her back safe and sound. Then there was a P.S. telling me to say hi to you and Brittany and they can't wait to see you guys."

"So this sicko is watching your house?" Kendrick yelled in disbelief.

"It would appear so. I think from now on we should do our communicating through text and phone calls. They could be tapping into them, but I think it's the safest option for now." Skylar suggested, careful to avoid bringing about Kendrick's wrath.

There was a sigh on the other line. "I guess you're right. It doesn't make sense for us to put ourselves at an unnecessary risk. Anna wouldn't want that."

Skylar nodded in agreement. Anna wouldn't be happy if she found out when she came home that they had been reckless in their efforts to get her back. "I agree. I think we should all try to be in our houses at night, if possible, and not go anywhere alone after dark."

"I completely agree. I have to go, lunch is almost over. Call or text me if you hear anything from either the police or X."

"Yeah, for sure."

After hanging up, Skylar flopped down on the couch, he couldn't believe what was happening. Would want to kidnap Anna? What did they want? Money? Revenge? Some sick thrill?

Each possibility was more upsetting than the last. Skylar couldn't help but feel helpless over the whole situation. This person had his girlfriend, knew where he lived, and was blackmailing him into keeping the police out of it. It was now on him to make sure Anna got home safe.

It was then that a first started burning inside of Skylar. He wasn't going to sit around and let some faceless coward determine if, when, and in what condition his girlfriend came home in. He was going to take care of this himself. He picked up his phone and sent another group text asking Brittany and Kendrick to do a Google Hangout that night. He knew he couldn't do this alone.


	5. Chapter 5

At 10 o'clock, Skylar, Brittany, and Kendrick all signed in and joined the hangout. "Can we all hear each other?" Skylar asked. When the other two confirmed that they could, he jumped right to the point. "As well all know, X has basically blackmailed us into not going to the police to talk about anything we know without risking Anna getting hurt. Kendrick and I talked earlier and Brittany I'm sure you'll agree, we aren't going to put Anna's safety at risk, but we also aren't going to sit around and do nothing while she's in the hands of a dangerous lunatic. Would you agree with that?"

The blonde nodded her agreement before Skylar continued. "We have to take things into our own hands."

Brittany and Kendrick visibly tensed. "Are you sure that's a good idea? This X person is pretty scary and seems to know what they're doing." Brittany said.

"At this point, I don't think we have much of a choice. Plus, we're all smart. I'm sure between the three of us we'll come up with something."

There was a brief moment of silence that was eventually broken by Kendrick. "What the hell, I'm in."

Skylar smiled before looking at the box Brittany's face was in. "Brittany? What do you say?"

The blonde hesitated. "I just don't know. It'd be great if we could pull it off, but if we mess up we could possibly be playing with life and death."

"You're absolutely right and that's an important thing to keep in mind throughout this entire process," Skylar agreed. "I'm sure it sounded like Kendrick and I were getting ahead of ourselves and like we want to come up with a plan tonight and put it into action tomorrow. We wouldn't do that. We're just really amped about getting Anna back."

"Ok, I can understand that," Brittany said as she nodded at the explanation. "So, does anyone have any ideas right away?"

"I do." Kendrick said immediately. "So we know that X is watching your place very closely, especially during the day. I think Brittany and I should come over late one night and use high powered binoculars and a camera to look through the window to find them."

Skylar and Brittany thought it over. On the surface it sounded like a decent plan, but they had concerns. "I think the idea is solid, but we have to look at the specifics. Like, where are we going to get all of this high powered equipment you speak of?" Skylar asked.

"We'll get everything from the spy shop by my house: I spy, We spy," Kendrick said.

"Wait, those places actually exist?" Brittany asked, completely shocked at what her friend was saying.

"They do. At least, this one does and I think it'll be the difference maker in this situation."

"So do I," Skylar agreed. "Now we know where we're getting our equipment. I guess the next logical question is how we're going to watch for X. My front window is huge so anyone within 100 feet could see a pair of binoculars and camera. If we know anything about X, it's that they aren't stupid and will immediately catch onto us and potentially take their anger out on Anna."

Kendrick had to think for a moment. It was obviously a question that she hadn't been anticipating. After a bit, she snapped her fingers after obviously having thought of something. "Simple, we buy some vertical shades and keep them drawn enough to conceal the bulk of the binoculars." Kendrick said in excitement.

Brittany and Skylar thought about it for a moment, trying to figure out any potential problems that could come about. "Ok, I have no issue with it up front," Skylar said as he continued to think it over. "Brittany can you think of anything?"

"Not off the top of my head," Brittany said with a shake of the head.

"Ok, so let's tentative go with Kendrick's plan. What do you guys say we meet at the spy shop on Saturday morning to get the equipment? Before then, I think that we should all think long and hard about the plan and look for any potential flaws in it. If we mess up, we could be putting Anna's safety, maybe even her life, in jeopardy." Skylar said with a clear air of warning.

Brittany and Kendrick immediately expressed their understanding before all bidding farewell until Saturday.

When the hangout was over, Skylar had mixed feelings. He was glad that there was some form of a plan in place, but also nervous that it could fail and put Anna in danger.

After a few minutes of allowing himself to stress over it, Skylar decided that the situation was temporarily out of his hands and worrying about it until Saturday wouldn't do him any good. Instead, he chose to go to bed and try to rest up for what he still had that week before Saturday.


	6. Chapter 6

When Saturday came around, the trio couldn't find any major issues with Kendrick's plan and met at the shop right before it opened. Most of the employees and customers were a little odd, but helpful in helping them find what they needed so they could pay and agreed to go over to Skylar's house at midnight to set up.

It took about an hour to hang the blonds and get the binoculars and camera in working order and another hour of testing the equipment to make sure it was all ready to use. When it was all ready to go, the trio decided to try to find something to do until dawn. Everything they tried proved pointless, they couldn't get over how nervous they were.

At around three in the morning, Brittany had gotten visibly tired and after a great deal of persuasion from Skylar and Kendrick, she agreed to go to the guest room to get some sleep until the first sign of dawn.

Kendrick and Skylar sat in silence, watching infomercials on mute until Kendrick broke it. "You still have reservations, don't you?" She asked. Not looking away from the TV.

Skylar nodded a bit. "Yeah, I do," he said honestly.

Kendrick grabbed the remote and turned the TV off before turning to Skylar. "And that's totally understandable, I'm nervous as hell, too. But I need you to trust that I would never have suggested this plan if I didn't think it would work."

Skylar nodded. "I know you wouldn't. My doubts don't have to do with you and whether you're trustworthy. I just have concerns that we're in over our heads. I mean, X kidnapped her in a busy, public place without anyone noticing. They obviously aren't an amateur. How do we know they aren't already a step ahead of us?"

"And they very well could be," Kendrick conceded before continuing. "But even if they are, I think it'll be good for them to know that we're ready to do what it takes to get Anna back."

They sat in silence after that, continuing to watch TV and check the window for signs of dawn approaching. At 4:35 in the morning, the first signs of late began to make itself known and Kendrick went to wake Brittany up.

The blonde was a little groggy when she first walked into the living room, but quickly shook any signs of sleep away so she would be fully conscious for what was about to happen.

It was quickly decided that Skylar would be the one to look through the binoculars because he would be able to identify anyone who didn't belong while Kendrick was in charge of the camera and Brittany had her phone out and was ready to call 911.

After half an hour with no activity, Brittany volunteered to make some coffee for the other two, who had been up all night.

"Kendrick," Skylar said suddenly. "Point the camera between those two oak trees and zoom in as much as possible. It looks like someone is going to be setting up there own stake out right there."

The brunette did as she was told and snapped a couple of pictures. "I get the shots, but I can't make out any details, can you?" Kendrick asked Skylar, disappointment clear in her tone as she looked back at the pictures she had taken before showing them to Brittany.

The blonde looked at them intently before mumbling, "This person looks really familiar."

Skylar and Kendrick shot her confused looks. "I thought you said that you can't make out who it is either?" Kendrick asked.

"I can't make out the face, it's too dark, but something about their stance and build is very familiar. I know I've seen this person before."

Then I guess I have to get a better shot," Kendrick said with determination before taking the camera back and refocusing it on the spot and snapped a few more shots. The brunette quickly reviewed them before showing them to the blonde. "Are those any better?"

Brittany took the camera and squinted in an attempt to make out any features at all before letting out a sigh and shaking her head. "I'm sorry, I just can't make out anything distinctive." The blonde apologized.

"It's ok, I'll try to get a better shot," Kendrick reassured as she went back to the camera and tried to adjust it in an attempt to get a clearer shot of the person's face. It ended up taking the small brunette 20 minutes to get the right lighting for her to take another round of pictures. "I don't know, how about these?" Kendrick asked as she handed the camera to Brittany.

The blonde accepted the camera and immediately furrowed her brow and stuck out her tongue in consentration. It was clearly bothering her that she couldn't come up with an answer.

Kendrick was about to ask for the camera back when Brittany gasped, drawing Skylar and Kendrick's attention as she whispered, "It can't be."

"Do you know who it is?" Skylar asked, putting down the binoculars to look at Brittany.

"I can't say with 100 percent certainty at this point, but I think that's Saluda." The blonde said, clearly in disbelief at what she was seeing.

Skylar and Kendrick looked at each other. "Saluda as in Anna's sister?" Kendrick asked.

Brittany shot Kendrick a questioning look. "How many Saludas do you know?"

"I was just checking," Kendrick explained. "What makes you so sure it's her? I mean, you've only met her briefly a few times, right?"

"That's true, and I'm not completely sure that it is her, but there's just something… familiar about the way she stands and carries herself. I know I haven't spent an hour with her collectively over the four years I've known Anna, but every time I met her I couldn't help but get a weird vibe from her. Like, she would always kind of stand a little back from the rest of the group and very rarely contribute to the conversation. It was like she was gathering information."

There was a moment of silence as Skylar and Kendrick looked at each other, silently debating if that was a good enough reason to go on.

"Look, I know that isn't the hard-core, incriminating evidence that you're looking for, but I trust my gut and it's all we really have to go on right now." Brittany pointed out.

"Is there anything that would make you more sure?" Skylar asked hopefully after a moment of silence.

"I mean, a clearer shot of her face would help a lot," the blonde deadpanned as she went into serious thought. She was about to shake her head when something popped into her hand. "I have to get my purse," Brittany said in a distracted voice before darting out of the living room.

Skylar and Kendrick barely had time to look at each other, let alone process what had just happened before the blonde ran back into the room, phone in had, as she stared at it intently.

"Um, Brittany, is now really the time to be texting?" Skylar asked in frustration.

"I'm not texting." Brittany said firmly. "I'm looking through my text history with Anna. She gave me Saluda's number at one point to call her about a small part in _Dial-A-Prayer_."

"But she wasn't in _Dial-A-Prayer_ ," Kendrick before second-guessing herself. "Was she?"

Brittany rolled her eyes. "No, she wasn't. Apparently taking a role with only one line was beneath a real actress with a SAG card," the blonde said dramatically.

"She said that?' Kendrick asked in disbelief.

"She sure did." Brittany said bitterly as she tapped her phone before lifting it to her ear. "Skylar, lock on the figure between the trees," the blonde whisper yelled while it was still ringing. "Hey Saluda, it's Brittany." The blonde said in a tone that Kendrick and Skylar immediately recognized as fake. "I was just calling to ask how you're doing. Anna being missing must be taking a toll on you."

The blonde put the phone on mute while Saluda talked. "What are the binoculars pulling up?"

Skylar did his best to focus on the figure before saying "Whoever it is on the phone. Try to get her to do something out of the ordinary so we know for sure." He whisper yelled.

Brittany gave a thumbs up to make sure he knew that she had heard him. "Yeah, I can't even imagine what you're going through." The blonde said sympathetically. "When I was younger and struggling with anxiety, a therapist taught me an exercise to relieve stress over a situation that was out of my control. It's really easy and I could walk you through it over the phone." She put her hand over the phone before pointing at Kendrick and then at the camera. The brunette immediately nodded before getting in position. "It's going to sound silly, but just bare with me because it really does help, ok?" Brittany asked before continuing. "Ok, cool . So start out by raising your arms up in the air as high as you can, really stretch. Do that for about five seconds before exhaling and letting your arms fall."

To Kendrick and Skylar's shock and horror, the figure was following the instruction Brittany was giving them. "Try to get her to turn around and face us." Kendrick asked as she snapped a couple of shots.

"Yeah, I know it's really weird, but I swear you'll feel better after a few sets," Brittany said completely casually. "Are you facing the west? That usually helps me get the most out of the exercise. I don't know why, but if it works, why not?"

"Got it," Kendrick whispered to the blonde.

Brittany gave a small nod and an "ok" sign while Saluda replied. "Yeah, I hope it works for you and don't hesitate to call or text me if you need anything." Brittany said before bidding farewell and hanging up the phone. "Let's see that shot," she said with determination.

Kendrick immediately handed over the camera with a satisfied smirk on her face. A smile spread across Brittany's face as well when she looked through the shots before handing it off to Skylar.

"Great job," Skylar praised. "These will be great pieces of evidence. There's no way she won't go to prison for a long time with these."

"Absolutely. Why don't you go call Detective Racine?" Kendrick suggested.


	7. Chapter 7

Last chapter! It's a long one. I hope you guys like it.

Within an hour, Detective Racine had come by, arrested Saluda, and gotten a confession out of her. The SWAT team was on their way to the alleged hideout to rescue Anna.

Skylar requested to have a few words with Saluda. Detective Racine was initially going to deny his request because it was against protocol. However, when he saw the look on Skylar's face and thought of all he had been through, the detective decided to look the other way.

When Skylar walked into the visiting room, he was directed to sit down at a table and Saluda would be brought out soon. While he was sitting there, Skylar kept running through the list of all the things he wanted to say to Saluda, tell her what a despicable person she was, that he would hire the best lawyer he could find to make sure that she goes away for a long time, and if she did get out in the near future, he would make sure that she had no contact with Anna. By the time he had finished going through the list, he was filled up and ready to tear into her.

All of those thoughts faded away when the door buzzed and Saluda, handcuffed and sporting an orange jumpsuit, was led in. The guard directed her to sit down at the seat across from Skylar. "We'll be watching just outside so don't try anything you don't want to add to the list of charges," the guard growled before turning to leave.

There was a heavy silence as Skylar struggled to not only recall what was on his list, but why he had wanted to say it in the first place.

"So," Saluda said loudly to break Skylar out of the trance he had fallen into. "I was told you wanted to see me. I'm guessing there's more of a reason behind it than you just really wanting to look at me."

"Why?" Was all Skylar managed to say.

Saluda waited a few moments to see if he would go into a specific reason. When he didn't, the brunette smiled as she leaned back in her chair as far as she could. "You're blunt. I can see why my sister likes you so much," she said before holding her still bound wrists up in mock surrender when she saw the death glare Skylar was giving her. "Right, not appropriate at the moment she said before sitting up straight again. "Do you have any siblings, Skylar?"

"What does that matter?" he asked, making no attempt to hide his anger at her.

Saluda rolled her eyes. "Jesus Christ, I'm in handcuffs and headed to a trial where I'm going to be found guilty and sentenced to at least 10 years. I think you can answer a simple yes or no question to help me answer your question without having to worry about me coming after them." The brunette said in frustration.

"Yeah, I have siblings," he said coldly.

"Oh God, then you're already familiar with sibling rivalry in a person way, not just in theory," Saluda said happily. "That means I get to fast forward in my explanation," she explained when she saw the confused look on Skylar's face.

"Wait, you did this because of sibling rivalry?" Skylar asked in disbelief.

"If you hadn't been rude and interrupted me," Saluda said as she shot him a glare. "Then you would have known that this goes a lot deeper than that. Now are you going to be quiet so I can answer your question?"

Skylar looked down and nodded before frowning and wondering why he felt bad for being rude to this criminal. He didn't have too much time to question it before Saluda had started talking.

"As I'm sure you know, Anna and I both got bitten by the acting bug." Skylar couldn't help but scowl at the shorter brunette at the mention at Anna's name. "But our parents didn't let us pursue it as a career and become child stars. We auditioned for community theatre stuff, mostly background stuff at first, but as we got older, we started getting cast in actually speaking parts. It was excited. Then, when I was 16 and she was 15, we both got a call back for _The Wizard of Oz_ to play Dorothy.

Our parents were originally going to make us turn it down because they didn't want one of us to get it and the other one to feel bad and get jealous. We spent the entire weekend before the audition swearing up and down to be gracious losers if the other got the part. On Sunday night over dinner, they finally agreed. We were both so excited that we stayed up almost all the night before rehearsing.

When my audition came around, my sheet music for the song I was going to sing went missing form my bag so I had to go with whatever the piano player had with him. It ended up being "Part of Your World" from _The Little Mermaid_ , so it was at least something I was familiar with, but it still wasn't the song I had practiced with so there were some places where I couldn't hit certain notes the way I would have liked t.

Anna went next and from what I could hear outside, she killed it. I immediately knew that I wouldn't be getting the part. I wasn't mad, I was more disappointed in myself that I didn't check my bag before I left for school that morning to make sure I had my sheet music.

Later that week, I had to borrow Anna's calculator because mine was broken. When I looking through her bag, what did I find, but the sheet music for what was supposed to be my audition song.

I barged into her room and confronted her. She denied it, but that little smirk blew her cover. I tried to tell our parents, but they just rolled their eyes and told me to stop being a sore loser. I went to the director of the show who just shrugged his shoulders and told me that was how show business goes sometimes and you have to keep an eye on your audition materials or someone will try to steal them.

Of course Anna nailed it as Dorothy, you've seen her act and heard her sing. After that, she was almost immediately promised lead female roles once she said she was interested.

One night while she was playing Belle in a local production of _Beauty and the Beast_ , someone from the UNC school of theatre was in the audience and offered her a scholarship, whish she took.

When she graduated, she was debt free and had a full resume so she decided to move to New York with the money our mom and dad had put in her college fund to see if she could get anything going on Broadway or book a TV show or movie. Meanwhile, I had to move home and live with my parents while I waitressed and booked any local acting jobs I could get my hands on to pay off my student loans and eventually start saving to move to L.A. and hire an agent.

When I had finally saved some money, I decided to go to New York for a business and pleasure trip. Anna let me stay with her and helped me get around to auditions and show me the sites because she had her days free because she hadn't booked anything. At first, I was happy to hear that because I thought it was her either getting a taste of her own medicine or karma coming back to bite her in the ass, either way it felt like justice had been served.

As you know, she eventually got _Equus_ with Daniel Radcliffe and beat out some pretty big names to get that part. When she told me, I had to ask if she played fair or dirty to get the part. She laughed and told me that what she did was moderate compared to the other girls. It was then that I decided I would have minimal contact with her form then an out. I wouldn't outright ignore her if she called me or avoid family gatherings so I wouldn't have to see her, but I wouldn't go out of my way to contact her out of principle to protest what she did.

So this went on for a few years, not that Anna really noticed. Last month I got a call from my agent and her told me that he got an auditon to be the lead in a new HBO drama about a ghost detective trying to solve her own murder. I had a really good audition and got a callback, which I was super excited about. I spent all of my free time preparing for the callback and was feeling pretty confident up until I walked into the waiting room and saw Anna sitting there looking over her copy of the script.

We were both surprised to see each other but pretended that we were happy to see the other and made small talk about L.A. traffic patterns and the weather until a girl walked out of the audition room with tears in her eyes. I asked her if she had anything to do with it to which she told me she didn't know what I was told about before the casting director called her back.

When she was done, she didn't even bother to say goodbye before she walked out of her lips. I didn't have much time to wonder what she could have done because I was being called back a few moments later. I pushed all of my emotions, about my sister and her sneaky rise to fame out of my head and just focused on the role and how much I wanted it.

I left the audition feeling pretty good. Even if I didn't get the part, I wouldn't feel bad about it because I knew that I couldn't have given a better audition that what I did.

Then I went home with Anna last month for our parental 40th wedding anniversary. I didn't talk about the part, because in my experience, it's bad luck to talk about a part until you've signed your start paperwork. Who do you think was running her mouth about the part like she had already signed her contract? Anna. It was hard, but I managed to bite my tongue the whole time and not tell anyone that I was up for the same part for fear of being called jealous or a sore loser like I was back in high school.

When I got back to L.A., I immediately called my agent to make sure that they hadn't cast the part without my knowledge. Not only was the part still to be determined, but I had gotten another call back to be a finalist to read for the part. The other two people being considered were Scarlett Johanson and my sister.

It's hard to describe what happened next, I wouldn't say that I snapped. I would more say that I had my body taken over by a dark spirit or something. I wasn't actively plotting to kidnap and hold my sister for ransom, but I didn't do anything to try and stop myself. I think that may have been driven by a subconscious belief that justice was finally being served."

Saluda stopped to chuckle before looking at Skylar with an unreadable expression. "That was when I got greedy. I thought I could get the part, con some money, and rebuild my relationship with my sister once I felt like we were finally on even footing after 15 years. In the words of very Scooby Doo villain ever, 'And I would have gotten away with it, too, if it weren't for you meddling kids.' I guess I should have known that you working with Kendrick and Brittany would only spell trouble for me and carrying out this little plan successfully, but you live and learn." The brunette said calmly as she shrugged her shoulders.

Skylar glared at the woman sitting across from him and trying to figure out what he did and didn't believe about her story and how to feel about what he did believe. "I don't believe a word you just said," was all Skylar was about to say. It was his first instinct to defend his girlfriend.

The other brunette held up her hands in mock defense, "Ok fine, you caught me. My actions weren't subconscious. I was in complete control of my actions, but honestly, after everything else I've just told you, can you look me in the eyes and tell me that you don't empathize just a little bit? As an actor who hasn't gotten a part for some bullshit reason, or a sibling who's been over shadowed by a sibling?"

Before Skylar could answer, Detective Racine walked up to tell him that they had found Anna and she was having a quick medical exam, but he could see her the second it was done, if he wanted. "Of course I want to see her!" Skylar exclaimed before turning back to Saluda. "Well it's been interesting listening to your delusional understanding of the past, but they found Anna and I want to go see her and let her know that she still has someone who lives in L.A. who loves her unconditionally." Skylar said coldly and started to walk away before turning to look back at Saluda. "I only hope, for your sake, that Anna is a better person than I am and forgives you, because I sure as shit won't. Do you know why? Because being close to Anna is pure bliss and having her love you is simply indescribable. But I doubt you know that seeing how self-absorbed you are, but maybe a stint in the big house will give you a chance to think about that."

Skylar left without another word, despite Saluda calling after him to wait. He didn't stop walking until Detective Racine did outside of a door with no windows. "Go greet your woman, Skylar, you've earned it." The detective said with the beginnings of what looked like a smile.

"Will do, sir," Skylar said awkwardly before turning to open the door.

When he opened the door, Skylar couldn't help but smile and let a few tears of relief spill down his cheeks when he looked across the room and saw Anna slinging her purse over her shoulder as she spun around to face Skylar.

The blonde had a similar reaction, tears were streaming down her face when she saw her boyfriend standing just a few feet away. Before she could stop herself, Anna sprung forward and launched herself into Skylar's arms

For a moment, the couple just held each other and cried at the relief of being safe in each other's arms once again. Anna was the one to heat things up by turning her face so she could kiss Skylar before shoving her tongue in his mouth. The action caught Skylar by surprise, but he quickly recovered and kissed her back with equal intensity. "I missed you so much and was so worried about you." Skylar said when they finally pulled apart as tears continued to fall from his eyes.

"Sky Sky, you have no idea how much I missed you, too, and was worried that whoever kidnapped me would get you too."

"Wait," Skylar said in complete shock. "No one told you that it was your sister who kidnapped you?"

Anna signed. "They did and after a few days of being in her hideout, I figured it out because she got lazy and forgot to wear a mask the whole time. But she never told me her plan, she just kidnapped me and kept me tied up and gagged in a basement for a few days, I still don't know why."

Skylar hesitated, wondering if he should tell Anna what Saluda had told him just a few minutes ago. It didn't end up being his choice anyways, because Anna noticed the change in his demeanor and demanded that he tell her that he knew that she wasn't telling him. "I actually just talked to Saluda and she told me that her motivation was, more or less, a combination of revenge and sibling rivalry. I have no way of knowing for sure that what she told me was true, but she seems to thing that you've made a career on sabotaging other actresses, including her." Skylar paused for a moment for asking the question that he was dreading finding out the answer to. "Is there any truth to that?"

The blonde sighed and took a seat on the exam table before urging Skylar to do the same. "My sister is… unstable." Anna said after taking a few moments to compose her thoughts. "She's never been officially diagnosed with anything, but it was clear very on early on that Saluda had issues with jealousy that would often result in her distorting reality from fact. I'm guessing she used the _Wizard of Oz_ audition as one of the examples she gave for me having sabotaged her?"

Skylar nodded. Anna offered a small, sad smile before continuing. "I didn't steal her audition sheet music, she misplaced it in the living room so our mom threw it away because she didn't know what it was. I was in one of the school's show choir groups and we were doing the same song she was planning to audition with, something I was completely unaware of until she dug through my backpack and found my sheet music and accused me of intentionally sabotaging her. Regardless of how much our parents, the drama teacher, and even I explained to her that I wasn't responsible for her losing her sheet music, but it didn't do any good. She couldn't be convinced that she was the one who misplaced her sheet music.

I thought that as she got older, she would either let it go or realize that it was her fault. I guess that was my bad. I should have known better and tried to recommend that she got to a therapist, but I held onto hope and tried to offer her parts in projects that I was working on or even tried to get my friends to offer her a small part here and there in TV shows or movies they were working on to try and add some credits to her resume. I hoped that would prove to her that I was willing to do anything to help her. Instead, she was really spiteful and turned down anything I tried to get her.

She did eventually get her SAG card by booking a job in a small, independent movie and I was really happy for her, but she continued to be suspicious of me. Her jealousy and anger towards me subsided a little over the years to the point where she could stand to be in the same room as me, but there was still some underlying hostility. I had hoped that it would subside as time went on and we could eventually have a normal sister relationship."

Anna paused and sighed heavily. "But then this HBO part came up. When I saw her walk into the waiting room at the casting office, I knew all of that hostility would come back full force and seriously thought about withdrawing myself from consideration for the part.

But this is the part of a lifetime and I wouldn't be able to look myself in the mirror if I did something to intentionally ruin my chance at this part. If I got, I knew Saluda would be angry and accuse me of using sabotage to get the part, but I didn't care because I knew that I got it fair and square.

When producers started making call backs for the roll, I heard that Saluda was still in the running. Then, I got a call from her almost an hour after hearing from my agent asking if I wanted to help her plan a surprise 40th anniversary part for our parents. I thought that it was her way of extending the olive branch to me after all of these years and saying that no matter what happened, there would be no hard feelings so I said yes.

I was filming _Brave New Jersey_ while we planned so there was only so much I could do, but I was happy to do anything Saluda asked me to. I really thought we were on path back to repairing our sibling bond and going back to how we were before that stupid role.

I was originally scheduled to fly back by myself on the day of the party, but Saluda said she had something come up here so she changed her flight to the same as mine.

Our flight got really delayed due to damage to one of the airline's planes so we decided to get a bite to eat. I should have known something was off when I felt light headed after only half of a vodka cranberry. The last thing I remember was asking the waiter for a glass of ice water.

I'm not sure how long I was out, all I know is that when I woke up I was tied to a chair and gagged in a basement. At first I was completely terrified that someone had drugged mine and Saluda's drinks and was going to either keep us as sex slaves, murder us, or use us as collateral to blackmail our family into paying us ransom. I got even more worried when a day had gone by and I didn't see Saluda. I thought she may have been killed trying to fight back or because they didn't know who she was and didn't think she would be worth as much for ransom.

Then, like I said, she started getting lazy about keeping her mask on and disguising her voice when she spoke so I quickly figured out that it was her. I just couldn't imagine why she would do something like that to me." Anna said as she tried to hide just how choked up she was getting.

Skylar sat in stunned silence as he watched Anna try not to cry and process everything she had just told him. He had no idea that her relationship with her sister was that toxic. Now that he thought about it, but it did seem strange that they still hadn't met, but he had always assumed that it was due to conflicting schedules. "I'm… sorry?" He tried. He felt the need to say something, but was completely lost as to what.

"You have nothing to apologize for," Anna said sternly as she put her hands firmly on Skylar's shoulders and forced him to make eye contact with her. "This is in no way your fault and you, Kendrick, and Brittany were responsible for rescuing me. If anything, I should be the one apologizing to your for not having already said thank you or told you about my sister, I was in the wrong and I'm very sorry. I hope you can find it in your heart to forgive me."

"Are you kidding me?" Skylar asked in disbelief, making her wince a little. She was prepared for the worst. "You get drugged and kidnapped by your jealous sister over a part in a TV show and you're apologizing to me for not introducing us? I think if anything, I should be thanking you for protecting me."

Anna smiled before grabbing Skylar's face and pulling him in for a heated kiss. The blonde couldn't help but giggle when she saw the look of shock on her boyfriend's face. "All while I was being held captive, all I could do was hope and pray that I would be found and when I was, I would do that right away."

"Damn," Skylar said in wide eyes and arousal.

The blonde's playful expression quickly turned suggestion. "Take me home. There are a few other things I've been dying to do with you for the last few days."

Without another word, Skylar put his hand on the smalls of Anna's back to lead her to the car in the parking lot before racing home.


End file.
